Search for an Electric Dipole moment in 225 Ra

The search for permanent electric dipole moments (EDM) is presently one of the most active fields in nuclear physics. The goal of this project is to put a new limit on the EDM of 225Ra. An atomic beam of radium atoms is laser-cooled and some atoms are trapped in a magneto-optical trap. These atoms will be transported to a very low magnetic field region where the spin precession frequency is measured. The addition of a strong electric field will be used to study the possible existence of an EDM. So far no EDMs have been observed in any system.